hi I am in zone 5 S.E. Nebraska I wish I could have a hundred different trees but I just don't have the space or time right now .

I do have six potted figs but I am not sure  if all of them are the best choices ? The six potted figs I have are  Hardy Chicago , Weeping Black , Ginoso , Excel , VEBT ,  Genovese Nero .

Some of you I would call Super fig experts .  some experts for sure ,some fig savonts ha so what would your top 5 picks be for cold hardy early ripening figs for pots . dark and light cultivators ?

I am guessing smaller dwarf types or bush types THAQT RIPENN EARLY might be best
but I assume most fig cultivators can be kept trimmed down ?

I am going to restrict my figs to 3' to 4' in 15gl water from below pots .. I guess I will be root pruning every 3 to 5 years?

"I store my trees in a cool dark basement for winter and do the fig shuffle in the spring ."

So please give me your opinions on what I have and your top 5 picks for growing this way ?

Negronne or VdB for sure!

RDB....aggressive grower and produces lots of deleious figs that start to ripen the 2nd week of August in my area

Green Ischia
Troiano Calabrese
Chiapetta

These were the top five that I was hoping to get going.

Marseilles Black VS
Ronde de Bordeaux (RdB)
Danny's Delight
Hardy Chicago
Florea

Thanks look like good choices . 

DON what does the EL  behind Hardy Chicago stand for ??

my Hardy Chicago wants to get leggy I think I will air layer the trunk and make it shorter ha .

Ronde de Bordeaux
Conadria (EL)
RDB
Malta Black
RDB

Thanks for your input Kerry

St. Anthony would be among my top five choices in pot.
It is hardy, prolific and top tasting and since it ripens its figs earlier than many other varieties it should do very well in your area.

Here's what I said about St. Anthony before.

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1285921981&postcount=6

SAS  thanks I will read up on St. Anthony !

Austin, in addition to the good suggestions you have gotten you might want to consider Improved Celeste (O'Rourke not).  It is very productive, early ripening and very cold hardy.  In the Spring of 2014 I gave one of my neighbors two rooted cuttings in 1 gallon containers: an LSU Scott's Black and an Improved Celeste (O'Rourke not; from Herman2). He planted them in the ground but they didn't grow a lot last summer due to deer damage etc. The trunks were probably about 3/4 inch in diameter when they went into dormancy. I told him about the need to protect the trees in Winter but (no surprise) they received absolutely no protection, not even mulch, and were out in the open. I looked at them today and the Scott's Black shows no signs of life; however, the Improved Celeste is sending up new shoots from the base! We got down to into the single digits on several nights last winter and had a zero degree low on one night. So that says a lot about how hardy Improved Celeste is; I'm impressed.

tough question.. i used to think that there were "cold climate" figs. then last winter, i left all my container culture out in the open. give 'em water and all.. they all died. the temp wasn't all that bad. even my 15 gal 5 yr old trees died. on the same hand, old trees had sign of fig boring beetles. i'm not sure if there are truly cold climate figs. i would imagine ones in the ground will get cold faster and thew slower. 

In addition to the above, Salem Dark, Desert King.  HC & SD are particularly good because they'll still ripen good figs with highs in the mid 60s.  DK is good because it'll ripen in July or Aug when your temps are the hottest.

WOW ! Thanks for all of the great suggestions ......


So out of the trees I have which ones should I retire and maybe trade for more suitable trees ?? what do you guys think ????

The Fig trees I have : Hardy Chicago , Weeping Black , Ginoso , Excel , VEBT ,  Genovese Nero...................

IT looks like HC is a keeper for sure?

The Excel ,VEBT , Genovese Nero are still small.

 The Ginoso has ripened some fruit, the weeping black ripened some fruit two yrs ago ,but last year the fruit did not ripen .
 

not sure, my reading has gotten me to try many kinds of figs in my zone 6 location. all planted outdoors without protection. for the first few years i would had said hardy chicago all the way as it was my most reliable and gave loads of fruit. two winters ago we all remember as a nasty one and sence then even my hardy chicago hasnt been able to rebound. but to my surprise some figs that was not listed as cold hardy by some not only died back to the ground but even gave fruit when my HC didnt push new growth until aug. Lattarolla, though slow growing compaired to many of my other trees only put out 2 foot of top growth but still put out a dozen or so ripe fruits that ripend first. my RDB hasnt put out any ripe figs sence 2012 but is the first to put out new growth and is by far the fastest grower i have at this time. another that put out new growth and lotsa fruit was an unknown that went by the name connies black, larger and better fruit than MvsB imo. though i am going to start doing some winter protection in the form of water line insulation around the trees and then bag with straw our leaves.

That's   Interesting Dave . 

I will not be planting any out side for a long time maybe never .  I  will be limiting it to 6 or so potted trees that I will over winter in a cool dark basement room .

I am fairly certain no fig will survive in zone 5 out side without extreme protection so until so unknown

super hardy fig is discovered . I will have  to stick to pots.

but please let me know if I am wrong ,

thanks 

I was in Brooklyn, NY last month. There was this Italian fig tree thriving in the front yard of this house and they don't even protect it in winter. The Lady told me that her husband brought it originally from Calabria many years ago. The tree was growing close to a wall and in plain view of the public. Its figs are delicious, I was told. Brooklyn, NY is designated as Zone 5. So yes you could plant a fig in ground in some kind of a sheltered microclimate created by a structure such as a wall etc.. and succeed.  P.S. I was promised some cuttings when the time comes.
Despite being productive and tasty, VD Bordeaux is not a hardy fig here in Texas when compared to a Celeste for example. It is susceptible to winter injuries just like many other varieties.
 

I am testing many kinds for cold hardness, even a theory that a tree can be grown to adapt to cooler climates. mother tree goes with protection for a couple of years and after that take a little protection off until the tree is left unprotected. its just a theory. but i wanna see if it true. if so then cuttings from said tree would already be programmed for cooler zones so to speak.

still waiting to see how nordland did, no sign of life yet and its at the top of the cold hardy list.

Some day ......I might plant a tree outside against a stone wall .....but for the next few yrs its pots for sure .

The storys like the tree in Brooklyn, NY are cool to hear.

the Figs that survived the winter in a make shift green House where

RDB
VDB / Negronne
Longue de Aout
Niagara Black
chicago Hardy

the 2 figs that I have potted in ground no protection and survived the winter where

MBVS it is sprouting and leafing out from the bottom of the trunks
Black Bethlehem also survived and longer part of the trunk survived it is leafing out.
Mark

I grow everything in pots up here in zone 5 Massachusetts. I've been really happy with Hardy Chicago and VdB so far. I extend the season a little with a glassed-in porch and a space heater, since we have such a short cool season. I'm hoping to get my first fruits from Green Ischia and Black Italian this year, so hopefully I can comment more on those in a couple months. My Lattarula is the same age but growing slower, so that might be until next year.

LOTS OF INTERESTING STUFF

I used to know a man many years ago, that grew a fig against his stone house in Indianapolis, zone 5. I wasn't interested in figs at the time so I don't really remember much about it - don't know where he got it or if it bore fruit. I just remember how excited he was that it had lived through the winter.

I'm not really into pot culture but I've noticed that Hardy Chicago and MBvs set fruit early on even in small grower pots. Mine were started in winter 2013-2014, and although the HCs quickly outgrew their 1 gallons, the MvsB grew at a snail's pace but still set fruit even as tiny plants.  

PS> (EL) denotes strains from Edible Landscaping, a nursery in Virginia http://ediblelandscaping.com

Hope you find some winners!